The deep surface of Lily Bart: Visual economies and commodity culture in wharton and dreiser

Abstract

Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser's literary portrayals of American culture at the turn of the twentieth century display a fascination with the visual. This essay is premised on a broader definition of visual culture that encompasses not only art or media but also the visual dimensions and perception of the urban landscape - the crowds in the street, in stations, theaters or hotels as well as shop windows, department stores and conspicuous interiors. The House of Mirth (1905), which forms the focus of this essay, and Sister Carrie (1900) present public arenas that locate people in a dynamic field of vision - a web of sights and looks that determines the subject's social place and defines personality as an assemblage of visual effects and attributes. Both novels are concerned with the impact the orientation towards the visual has on the psyche of their protagonists. They exemplify that commodity culture, especially modes of commercial display, serves as a model for modern subjectivity. Wharton draws the picture of a society that puts its stakes in appearances and whose assets and tastes are of value only when they are converted into a kind of visual currency. Her protagonist, Lily Bart, reflects these values not only in her accomplished self-fashioning, but also in her psychic make-up-her deep surface.